by marc » Thu Oct 29, 2020 8:48 am
I have a friend, his name is Mark Bennett. I’ve known Mark for over 40 years. He’s a former Marine who served in Viet Nam very early in that war. He was part of a 4 man patrol group that would scout out sites for bombing runs by the Air Force. Occasionally I can get him to open up about his time “in country.” I once asked him what he would take on these 4 or 5 day patrols and his answer was simple: as much ammunition as they could carry because they were either in or close to enemy territory and usually under fire.
He served his time and thank God got home alive. After a short time as an MP on his return he left the Marines and came home to Connecticut where he’s lived a mostly uneventful life, mostly in the restaurant business.
About 15 years ago Mark began to lose the use of his legs. Now Mark, up to that time lived mostly off the grid, even cutting wood for his heat. He started use the VA for his growing medical needs but because of a glitch in his Military record he was denied all but the most basic of medical services. At that point the AG of the state of Connecticut, also a former Marine heard about Mark’s delimma, interceded on his behalf and we got Mark reclassified with a 100% disability rating. It’s highly likely that his condition is due to exposure to Agent Orange, among other things. This made him available for an almost unlimited category of medical and life assist benefits. Me along with a small group of friends helped to make sure that Mark got to his Doctors appointments at the VA. We’ve been doing that for the past 10 years ago.
Mark’s love for Deer hunting both by long gun and bow and arrow and fishing were his favorite activities and while his failing ability to walk without an assist made hunting and fishing almost impossible, Mark always got to Northern Maine every fall to hang with a few of his friends, some from his days in the Marines, at the cabin they would rent every year for this trip.
This year Mark, still able to drive on his own, went as usual but a couple of days in he fell, and broke his neck in two places. For the last 6 weeks, Mark has been on and off a ventilator with a feeding tube inserted as well. I talk to him by having a nurse put his phone next to his ear, but he can’t answer.
Why write this? Because you should know this person, or one someone like him. He never wanted very much: a comfortable place to live, a job, a car, a life. Just
like most of us and now he lays in a hospital bed in Northern Maine, hours away from friends and family and we hope he improves to the point of being put in an Ambulance and brought back to Connecticut where we hope that the VA has a space for him in one of their facilities.
I realized this morning that he put his life on the line over 50 years ago so that we could have these silly, nonsensical arguments today.
Well I quit, because when you stack up his willingness to put his life in danger so many years ago for us, everything else is just noise.
Thanks for reading this and please vote because I believe that voting for someone, no matter who you favor, is always better than not voting at all.
Marc-